Field
Aspects of the present invention generally relate to a technique for controlling an information processing apparatus having a log recording function.
Description of the Related Art
A Multifunction peripheral (MFP), including an image reading apparatus, a printing apparatus, an image storing apparatus, and a communication apparatus, and provided with image processing applications used for copying, printing, scanning, and facsimile transmission and reception. Many MFPs further include information processing apparatus functions such as a document file storing function and a user authentication function.
Accordingly, similarly to other information apparatuses and devices, for the purpose of traceability, audit, prevention of information leakage g, etc., a function that records a log according to the operation of an MFP has been proposed. Such a log is called an “audit log”.
When an information leak or an unauthorized access has been discovered, by referring to an audit log, tracing thereof can be performed by using the audit log. For this purpose, it is important, even if any error has occurred with a process for recording or storing the audit log, that association between the operation of the MFP and the audit log is always kept. In addition, it is necessary to preserve an audit log obtained when an error has occurred so as not to be lost, since the audit log is important in order to analyze a cause of the error. Japanese Patent No. 5334739 discusses a technique for satisfying such conditions.
Japanese Patent No. 5334739 discusses a method of dealing with a case where a network fault or the like has occurred in a configuration in which an audit log file is transmitted outside of an MFP. More specifically, in the technique discussed in Japanese Patent No. 5334739, when the file size of an audit log exceeds a predetermined threshold, the operation of the MFP is stopped. With this control, according to the technique discussed in Japanese Patent No. 5334739, a situation, in which “despite that the MFP has operated, an audit log corresponding to the operation fails to remain”, does not occur.
Further, with this control, a situation, in which an audit log obtained at an error is lost due to overwriting with a newly recorded audit log, does not occur. As a result, the correspondence between the operation of the MFP and the audit log is always kept, and the audit log obtained when an error has occurred can be preserved.
However, according to a log management method discussed in Japanese Patent No. 5334739, the operation of the MFP is stopped when the size of the audit log file exceeds a predetermined threshold value in a fault state in which the audit log cannot be transmitted outside of the MFP. As a result, the user cannot use the MFP, which is inconvenient.